Over the past few weeks I have been spending some significant time burrowing in on the topic of prayer. That digging includes looking at key scriptures on prayer, reading a book on prayer, as well as watching video sessions of a conference that focused on prayer. It has been stimulating and stirring for me and I will admit that […]

On Sunday, July 28, Ron Frost was with us and spoke about “Jesus in the Old Testament.” As he took us through the Bible on Sunday morning and Sunday night it provided a rich learning experience to see how the Old Testament and New Testament are both connected because of Jesus. But the learning went farther […]

“Imagine you woke up one day to discover that you had become a (long-term) missionary in a foreign land. The language, the culture, the worldview, and the values are all unfamiliar. Fortunately you are part of a team. What are you going to do?” “Everyday Church”, Page 37 For most of us, this is a […]

In May’s newsletter I wrote about God’s purpose for our church and how many churches tend toward being a “nice Christian church.” In June’s newsletter I wrote about how Jesus framed His ministry in terms of being Kingdom-focused versus church-focused. While being Kingdom-focused is critical, realize the church is profoundly special to God because it is the Bride of Christ. So, there […]

In last month’s newsletter I talked about how people tend to want a “Nice Christian Church.” People want to come to church and have a level of security that their needs are being met. They want acceptable music, a decent sermon and relationships where they can meet some people to meet their people needs. The challenge is this kind of […]

Sunday, April 28 marked the end of a 1.5-year journey of “Making Space for Change.” There are a few more details to be figured out – some outside work needs to take place and some cleanup needs are still in order. But now that our building process is coming to a close there are a […]

Let me begin with a question. When I say the word ‘Easter’, what is the first thing that pops in your mind? Here are a couple of options. I need to make sure that I connect with the kids and relatives and figure out where and what the family Easter meal looks like. I so enjoy this […]

Thirty eight years ago Deanna and I were living in Vancouver, Washington. We attended a Baptist church and it was our first step toward “really jumping in” to the life of a church. It began by working with a group of 5th and 6th grade boys and girls during a Wednesday night ministry. That year the pastor of the church […]

A couple of months ago I started going through a new leadership book. One of the key points of focus was a compelling word: Alignment. An example you’ve heard is, “my car is out of alignment”. If a car veers to the right or the left after you let go of the steering wheel for […]

This past Sunday I introduced a new sermon series called “ALL IN”. I made a statement that attenders at GREFC can have very different views of what it means to be a follower of Christ. That fits with the reality that people have different opinions as to what it means to be “all in” as a […]

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Welcome to GREFC

Welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. We are a Christian church in Grand Rapids, MN. Everyone here is like you. We have joy, we have fears that keep us up at night, we experience pain, we face challenges, and we’re all searching for love. We don’t have all the answers. But we do know someone who has the answers we’re all seeking and we do know how our story ends. If you would like that for yourself, then walk through this site and learn more about us. Thanks for visiting and we hope you come back often.

Living On Mission

1 Peter 2:9 through 3:16 talks about living in a hostile world and living your daily lives as though you are missionaries in a foreign land. That is the basis for our community groups.